America is once again a territory in the middle of a battle for control, just as it was nearly 300 years ago, only this time the battles are fought in the press and not in the fields. The reason that we find ourselves at this juncture in our history, however, is that the true patriots who secured this land for us have been cavalierly discarded by a segment of our population and our representatives as doddering old men.

Any contemporary politician who declares that our Constitution is a “living, breathing document” should be viewed as a heretic and laughed off the stage, but we are way beyond the likelihood of that happening. In fact, we’d be fortunate just to witness a casting off by our team of the one-sided rules of engagement that have been foisted upon us in a broken agreement from the left.

We have adhered to the rule of civility for decades (reference the failed “high-road” campaign of John McCain in 2008) while the Democrats have played the role of Lucy holding the football — yet again — for Charlie Brown. We approach a new campaign season with the hopes that our faith in fairness will finally be rewarded. But Lucy always yanks the ball away at the last minute.

In a strange and ironic way, the Republican party has operated in the same fashion as the Redcoats of the Revolutionary War, strictly clinging to their rule of formation in a misguided belief that virtue could defeat ferocity combined with treachery. As we line up in beautiful and righteous rows of formation, our enemies pop up from behind rocks and trees and shoot us dead. (All apologies for the “over the top” rhetoric, but some analogies really do need to be made).

Texas Governor Rick Perry — after weeks of speculation — has finally announced his intention to run for the office of president, and he has come out of the gate like Secretariat, sprinting and snorting from the outset. He has spoken plainly and boldly, even drawing a rebuke from the man I believe he will ultimately supplant as our president. The media has been rendered all but slack-jawed, and our liberal counterparts in the electorate, outraged.

The bullies are suddenly whining that we are not “fighting fairly”. They cry over the fact that we have not only learned their tactics, but we are about to perfect them.

To that, I can only beam and say loudly, “Good! It’s about darned time!”

As we fight to regain that which we bravely won from the British so many years ago, I can’t help but marvel at the irony of our circumstances as we go. Patriots fought an enemy that adhered to a rigid doctrine of honorable battle, and it cost that enemy dearly. Today, we are the Redcoats, but we are finally learning that our tactics have been flawed, and we are adapting. As Rick Perry recently declared, the left won’t like us no matter how we behave, so we might as well fight like they do now.

We have allowed them to force us to fight a gentleman’s fight while they back us into a corner and hit below the belt and head butt. It’s almost like a professional wrestling “match”, where the referee — the media — is always distracted while the bad guy breaks the rules, but happens to look just as the good guy retaliates out of frustration.

The Rolling Stones had a hit song in the 1970’s called Street Fighting Man. Two lines stand out, at least figuratively:

Hey! think the time is right for a palace revolutionBut where I live the game to play is compromise solution

The TEA Party seems to have the right idea, and the power to back it up. No longer can Lucy be trusted to hold the football. Oh, she can hold it for as long as she wants, but Charlie Brown — the Republicans — must refuse to even fake an attempt to kick it. Ignore it, which is what the TEA party advocates. The media be damned…the Redcoats are leaving, and we’re gearing up for an epic battle for the 2012 election.

Rick Perry was chastised by this administration recently for saying that Fed-head Ben Bernanke’s printing more money would be treasonous. Obama admonished him to watch his mouth, and even some more timid Republican participants shuddered at the “tone” of the comment, saying that it might have been over the top. But consider the notion that massive counterfeiting would collapse an economy if left unchecked, and printing genuine — albeit worthless — paper money is tantamount to sabotaging an economy.

Couple that with former vice president Al Gore’s shrieking that George W. Bush “betrayed this country! He played on our fears!!”, and the hypocrisy is crystal clear. Perry is merely an early candidate for the office…Gore was one term removed from office when he bellowed those words, and yet the media and Democrats — redundant, I realize — were silent.

Fighting fairly has gotten our heads broken, folks. It’ time to abandon the bright red uniforms, break formation, and take to the trees. The fight is on. As General Washington might have told his troops, “Don’t waver in the face of apparent defeat, men. Have faith, forge on, and we will persevere”.